Opinion
CR-13-6695
03-12-2014
STATE OF MAINE v. IAN C. CHAPMAN Defendant
ORDER ON MOTION TO SUPPRESS
John H. O'Neil Jr. Justice
The Court has carefully considered the Defendant's Motion to Suppress.
The Court concludes that Sgt. Gardner presented credibly. Based upon the speed of Mr. Chapman's vehicle and the length of pursuit, it was objectively reasonable to execute the type of safety stop described in Donatelli.
While the Court concludes the actions of Sgt. Gardner were objectively reasonable, this is not to imply that Mr. Chapman's comment he was unaware he was being pulled over for a period in time was untrue. A review of the DVD indicates this was a situation whereupon differing perspectives of the events could have occurred.
It is also important to note that once the reason for the safety stop had been investigated and it was clear Mr. Chapman was not an imminent threat, the level of intrusion de-escalated to that associated with an ordinary traffic stop. It was at this point that any interrogation related to the offense for which Mr. Chapman was ultimately charged occurred. Given this was at a stage consistent with an ordinary traffic stop and Mr. Gardner was told he was not under arrest, the Court concludes he was not in custody for Miranda purposes.
Because of this ruling, the Court does not examine the issues of which portions of the interactions between Mr. Chapman and Sgt. Gardner constituted interrogation for Miranda purposes.
Accordingly, the Motion to Suppress is denied.